GillBates0 writes: "In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Mumbai and Norway, we saw how people used technology to collaborate and help each other online (e.g. for rides, blood donations, etc). I am toying with the idea of creating a website where people can report suspicious objects by clicking a picture. Once uploaded to the website and geolocated (via an App), the location could be flagged on a Google Map, so others can avoid it. If enough people report the object, the website could automatically dial local authorities (perhaps each city should have one). It's kinda "surveillance for the people, by the people", especially in areas where government surveillance isn't adequate. It would harness the power of technology and the masses to improve public vigilance, warn other people in the area, in real time. There are privacy implications, and there's probably a huge scope for misuse, but it would save lives. What do people think?"

In its most recent report on the scope and spread of phishing sites, The Anti-Phishing Working Group compiled stats that show that seven percent of all phishing domains were hosted on.cc domains in the second half of 2010. More than 4,900 phishing attacks originated from.cc domains in that period, the group said.

twoheadedboy writes: "Panda Security has chosen to lambast the now defunct hacking group LulzSec, saying the group's work was more "stupidism" than "hacktivism." In its report covering the second quarter of 2011, the security company also took the opportunity to criticise Anonymous. Given how Anonymous has reacted to criticism in the past, notably in the case of HBGary, is Panda taking a big risk?"

MetalliQaZ writes: "Ars Technica is currently following the story of their own experience being the target of a fraudulent copyright complaint on their Facebook page. "Facebook is so eager to protect copyright that the mere accusation of copyright infringement is enough to get an account locked. Ars found this out the hard way Thursday morning when our own Facebook page became inaccessible, with no warning, no explanation, and no clear appeal process. To make matters worse, Facebook is not responsive to inquiries about account lockout, and the company provides absolutely zero useful direction on how to rectify a complaint.""

itwbennett writes: "Lawyers for Oracle and Google gave Judge William Alsup of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco an overview of Java and why it was invented, and an explanation of terms such as bytecode, compiler, class library and machine-readable code. The tutorial was to prepare him for a claim construction conference in two weeks, where he'll have to sort out disputes between the two sides about how language in Oracle's Java patents should be interpreted. At one point an attorney for Google, Scott Weingaertner, described how a typical computer is made up of applications, an OS and the hardware underneath. 'I understand that much,' Alsup said, asking him to move on. But he had to ask several questions to grasp some aspects of Java, including the concept of Java class libraries. 'Coming into today's hearing, I couldn't understand what was meant by a class,' he admitted."

ideaz writes: Pandora Media Inc., the largest Internet radio company, said it’s been asked for information as part of a federal grand-jury probe into the way smartphone software developers handle personal data.

Pandora isn’t a specific target of the investigation and similar subpoenas have been issued to other publishers of apps that run on Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Google Inc.’s Android operating system, the company said in a securities filing today.

Saint Aardvark writes: "Mohammed Hassan writes in Network World that he found a keylogger program installed on his brand-new laptop — not once, but twice. After initial denials, Samsung has admitted they did this, saying it was to "monitor the performance of the machine and to find out how it is being used." As Hassan says, "In other words, Samsung wanted to gather usage data without obtaining consent from laptop owners." Three PR officers from Samsung have so far refused comment."

An anonymous reader writes: "Due to the continuous earthquakes occurring in the eastern regions of Japan since Mar. 11, 2011, the power companies in Japan have encouraged everyone to cooperate by conserving as much energy as possible as it is feared there will not be enough power supply. Based on the current situation, we have decided to shut down the game servers temporarily, and therefore to suspend services of FINAL FANTASY XIV, FINAL FANTASY XI, and PlayOnline temporarily."

An anonymous reader writes: In 2008 the French fashion company Louis Vuitton sued artist Nadia Plesner for her depiction of a handbag similar to the ones they sell, and recently won. Her painting, "Darfurnica" depicts an emaciated African child holding a chihuahua and a handbag, which Paris Hilton is famous for. Lawyers for Louis Vuitton claimed that the handbag resembles to closely the products the company sells and was an infringement on its intellectual property rights. Plesner has a history of being sued by Louis Vuttion for the same reason.

bonch writes: Democrat Herb Kohl, the Senate's leading antitrust legislator, has vowed an antitrust probe into Google as one of his top priorities. Others in Congress are criticizing the search giant over several flubs, including scanning personal data over neighborhood WiFi, collecting Social Security information from children in a doodling contest, and sidestepping net neutrality rules through a deal with Verizon. They're also concerned over ties with the administration--Eric Schmidt is a technology advisor to President Obama, Andrew McLaughlin serves as Obama's deputy chief technology officer, and Sonal Shah leads the White House Office of Social Innovation. Google spent $5.2 million last year on federal lobbying, but critics say their increased Washington presence has made more enemies than friends.

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Steve Green writes in the Las Vegas Sun that copyright enforcement company Righthaven, accused of coercing defendants into settling with threats of damages of $150,000 and forfeiture of the defendants’ website domain names, is complaining that one of its litigation foes is needlessly running up legal costs that Righthaven may end up having to pay. In one of its more extensively-litigated cases, Righthaven sued the Democratic Underground last year after a message-board poster re-posted the first four paragraphs of a 34-paragraph Review-Journal story. After suffering a fair-use setback in another case involving a partial story post, Righthaven tried to drop its suit against the Democratic Underground, which would have resulted in a finding of “no infringement.” But the Democratic Underground is pressing for Righthaven to pay its attorneys fees and says new evidence had surfaced that would bolster their case. “Defendants agree that this case should be over — indeed, it should never have started. But it should not end until Righthaven is called to account for the cost of the defense it provoked," say attorneys for the EFF. "To allow Righthaven to avoid compensating those who have no choice but to defend would be unjust and unsupportable." In other news, Righthaven has filed five more lawsuits, bringing their total since March 2010 to 246 lawsuits."

An anonymous reader writes: You know it's coming, and for the forever-alone crowd, not soon enough: Robots that physically interact with humans. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have found in a study that people generally had a positive response toward being touched by a benevolent robotic nurse, but that their perception of the robot's intent made a significant difference. "Even though the robot touched people in the same way," said a team lead, "if people thought the robot was doing that to clean them, versus doing that to comfort them, it made a significant difference in... whether they found that contact favorable or not."